Romelu Lukaku

[DYC. 7,542]

I had a dream crushed once, I was getting a tit wank of Kim Kardashian and the wife woke me for work.

That's disgusting.

Were they real?

[Special Juan 27,439]

That's disgusting.

Were they real?

about as real as my dream pal

[Toli 977]

ChelsTransferGossip ‏@ChelsTransfer 4m

Romelu Lukaku will join up with Chelsea in Holland tomorrow after a £30million price-tag was put on his head. #CFC #EFC (Mirror)

[J.F. 1,484]

He signed for Everton?

[Barbara 15,149]

I have a few things to say about this whole ordeal, some of which I've already said, some of which I haven't.

1) Lukaku ran away from competition last year. End of it. Yes, there was WC, but if his main goal was to displace Benteke he left because he wasn't sure he could displace Torres, Ba and Eto'o? Displacing Benteke was much harder than displacing at least two of those three. Benteke is no wonder (imo still better than Lukaku though) but he certainly is better than Torres and Ba comparatively, meaning that playing for Belgium and Villa he's better than Torres and Ba playing for Chelsea.

2) He thinks of himself more than he actually is. He wants things handled to him in a silver plate because he thinks he's earned them by scoring double figures in mid-table teams. Ba also did the same and look how different things worked for him at Chelsea. Also, Lukaku seemingly played bad for a streak at Everton last season because he was overplayed in his great start of season. So he wants to play week in and out, but when he does he shows he doesn't have stamina to keep it up - or at least that's what many Everton fans said about his acute level drop after very good first months. Not that worthy the investment and effort if you ask me. A player that is burned out after three months is something I won't miss dearly.

3) Sturridge and Lukaku are and have always been worlds apart. We made a mistake with Sturridge because of Torres mainly. If Lukaku leaves and reaches Daniel's numbers elsewhere I'll still support letting him go while I don't support letting Daniel go. It's not only about the goals, it's also about the attitude. It's a combination of both. Lukaku's attitude about a few things couldn't be worse (speaking to the media, thinking of himself morr than he is, wanting things given to him without fighting for them, running away from competition). It's a whole bad package. How many goals does he have to offer to make up for all those headaches he gives from time to time - quite often btw? Mourinho talked about dressing room disruption with Shaw's wages. Which is true (although let's not fool ourselves, he's also trying to disrupt their dressing room), but the principle is the same with Lukaku's entitled attitude. Costa - who scored frigging 34 goals - came here and when the interviewer implied he was a nail starter he immediately corrected him in that assumption and said if he wants to start matches he'll have to fight with Torres and prove his worth. Don't you think other players could be annoyed by Lukaku's approach, believing he's already done everything to prove he should start for us (barely ever wearing our shirt at all), while many of them - striker position or not - had to work their arses off with us to be in our first team or did the same in another top club? I'm not saying it would happen, but it's also a possibility.

4) He isn't that good or suitable for us anyway. He could be very good one day - but I don't see a high ceiling for him tbh - but even if he excels in what he's already good I don't think he has the qualities to actually be a top player in a club like Chelsea. It's Ba all over again. When you're in a mid-table team, other teams approach you differently than when you're in a top club, favorite to win every competition and match they enter. Defenses, midfielders play differently against Everton compared to what they do against Chelsea and Lukaku's good qualities (he has them, I'm not denying that) are much more suitable for playing in a team like Everton than at Chelsea. Teams play extra-defensively against us all the time. With his first touch, difficulty to hold the ball and general lack of technique it's much harder for him to score in those situations than against teams playing Everton equally or without an extra defensive effort. He'll receive balls in the run, he'll receive balls in the box or around it with less players around him. He'll flourish in those situations. As it stands today and seeing how he progressed in three seasons - despite the early age - I don't think he has what it takes to make it big here. He could and certainly would outscore Eto'o last season (nine goals), but all this headache for a player that could score, I don't know, 12 goals? That's what I expect from Oscar or Schurrle this year... They should score at least 12 goals if they're in form. For a striker is still not much. It's just we've been so bad in that department lately that suddenly a guy with 15 goals in the league is a wonder here.

5) Finally if he indeed leaves is because of at least one of those two things (could also be a combination of both) A- Lukaku's decision: he wanted and Mourinho thought that it wasn't a great loss. B- Club decision: Mourinho doesn't rate him (or think he's worth keeping given the bad package I've mentioned above he definitely comes with) whether that's technically or only about his attitude. In either case I guess I'll trust Mourinho's assessment, first because I happen to think the same whether A or B happens, second, Mourinho knows much better than I do (which doesn't mean he doesn't make mistakes).

Letting Lukaku go isn't a problem in itself, staying with only Torres and Droga is. One injury and we're left with a strike force as bad (if not worse) than last year's - and we don't know if Costa is prone to them or not, a player could start being prone to them like Aguero was last season and some occasions before - at any point of his career.Maybe he can't prevent Lukaku from leaving or even think he's worth the effort, but then Mourinho MUST bring another striker, especially because he spent the whole of last season complaining he didn't have strikers. If he consciously take a risk of going with only one good striker he doesn't a right to say a word if Costa is injured and we're left with only Torres and DD. I'd say someone young, inexpensive, that could learn from DD and offer us around the same goals output that Lukaku could or even a bit less. I've been saying for a while now we could use a technical striker - we don't have any in the team - because Lukaku's style is similar to Costa - except the latter is right now much better than the former. If Costa struggle against a certain kind of situation, we still have a problem because the likely of it being the same situation Lukaku struggles is huge. Neither can save us if our midfield is having an uninspired day (at least we'll have DD now for air threat in set-pieces, which is always a way to try to overcome lack of creativity). Get a talented, technical young striker around 22-23 that isn't that big yet (or maybe even doesn't have a very high ceiling), but that could offer us something different. He'll grow and mature here and we'll be more versatile. Either way, just get someone.

We don't need to have a problem with letting Lukaku go - it's not a problem per say in my book - but we can make it a problem if we're only left with those other two replacements for Costa.

[Toli 977]

ChelsTransferGossip ‏@ChelsTransfer 8m

Chelsea are playing hardball with Everton for Romelu Lukaku by placing a £30 million price tag on the striker (Telegraph) #CFC #EFC

ChelsTransferGossip ‏@ChelsTransfer 4m

Lukaku wants to return to Everton, where he spent last season on loan, but Chelsea want £30 million (Telegraph) #CFC #EFC

ChelsTransferGossip ‏@ChelsTransfer 5m

Everton are hoping to sign Lukaku on a permanent deal and are putting together a £23m plus bonuses to try to land him (Telegraph) #CFC #EFC

[iseah100 5,612]

I have a few things to say about this whole ordeal, some of which I've already said, some of which I haven't.

1) Lukaku ran away from competition last year. End of it. Yes, there was WC, but if his main goal was to displace Benteke he left because he wasn't sure he could displace Torres, Ba and Eto'o? Displacing Benteke was much harder than displacing at least two of those three. Benteke is no wonder (imo still better than Lukaku though) but he certainly is better than Torres and Ba comparatively, meaning that playing for Belgium and Villa he's better than Torres and Ba playing for Chelsea.

2) He thinks of himself more than he actually is. He wants things handled to him in a silver plate because he thinks he's earned them by scoring double figures in mid-table teams. Ba also did the same and look how different things worked for him at Chelsea. Also, Lukaku seemingly played bad for a streak at Everton last season because he was overplayed in his great start of season. So he wants to play week in and out, but when he does he shows he doesn't have stamina to keep it up - or at least that's what many Everton fans said about his acute level drop after very good first months. Not that worthy the investment and effort if you ask me. A player that is burned out after three months is something I won't miss dearly.

3) Sturridge and Lukaku are and have always been worlds apart. We made a mistake with Sturridge because of Torres mainly. If Lukaku leaves and reaches Daniel's numbers elsewhere I'll still support letting him go while I don't support letting Daniel go. It's not only about the goals, it's also about the attitude. It's a combination of both. Lukaku's attitude about a few things couldn't be worse (speaking to the media, thinking of himself better than he is, wanting things given to him without fighting for them, running away from competition). It's a whole bad package. How many goals does he have to offer to make up for all those headaches he gives from time to time - quite often btw? Mourinho talked about dressing room disruption with Shaw's wages. Which is true (although let's not fool ourselves, he's also trying to disrupt their dressing room), but the principle is the same with Lukaku's entitled attitude. Costa - who scored frigging 34 goals - came here and when asked about his position in the team with the journo assuming he's a starting XI he immediately corrected him in that assumption and said if he wants to start matches he'll have to fight with Torres and prove his worth. Don't you think other players could be annoyed by Lukaku's approached that he's done everything to prove he should start for us, while many of them - striker position or not - had to work their arses off with us to be in our first team? I'm not saying it would happen, but it's also a possibility.

4) He isn't that good anyway or that suitable for us. He could be very good one day - but I don't see a high ceiling for him tbh - but even if he excels in what he's already good today I don't think he has the qualities that actually be a top player in a club like Chelsea. It's Ba all over again. When you're in a mid-table team, other teams approach you differently than when you're in a top club, favorite to win every competition and match they enter. Defenses, midfielders play differently against Everton compared to what they do against Chelsea and Lukaku's good qualities (he has them, I'm not denying that) are much more suitable for playing in a team like Everton than at Chelsea. Teams play extra-defensively against us all the time. With his first touch, difficulty to hold the ball and general lack of technique it's much harder for him to score in those situations than against teams playing Everton equally or without an extra defensive effort. He'll receive balls in the run, he'll receive balls in the box or around it with less players around him. He'll flourish in those situations. As it stands today and seeing how he progressed in three seasons - despite the early age - I don't think he has what it takes to make it big here. He could and certainly would outscore Eto'o last season (nine goals), but all this headache for a player that could score, I don't know, 12 goals? That's what I expect from Oscar or Schurrle this year... They should score at least 12 goals if they're in form. For a striker is still not much. It's just we've been so bad in that department lately that suddenly a guy with 16 goals in the league is a wonder here.

5) Finally if he indeed leaves is because of at least one of those two things (could also be a combination of both) A- he wanted and Mourinho thought that it wasn't a great loss. B- Mourinho doesn't rate him (or think he's worth keeping given the bad package I've mentioned above he definitely comes with) whether that's technically or only about his attitude. In either case I guess I'll trust Mourinho's assessment, first because I happen to think the same whether A or B happens, second, Mourinho knows much better than I do (which doesn't mean he doesn't make mistakes).

Letting Lukaku go itself isn't a problem, staying with only Torres and Droga is. One injury and we're left with a strike force as bad (if not worse) than last year's - and we don't know if Costa is prone to them or not, a player could start being prone to them like Aguero was last season and some occasions before - at any point of his career.Maybe he can't prevent Lukaku from leaving or even think he's worth the effort, but then Mourinho MUST bring another striker. I'd say someone young, inexpensive, that could learn from DD and offer us around the same goals output that Lukaku could or even a bit less. I've been saying for a while now we could use a technical striker - we don't have any in the team - because Lukaku's style is similar to Costa - except the latter is right now much better than the former. If Costa struggle against a certain kind of situation, we still have a problem because the likely of it being the same situation Lukaku struggles is huge. Neither can save us if our midfield is having an uninspired day (at least we'll have DD now for air threat in set-pieces, which is always a way to try to overcome lack of creativity). Get a talented, technical young striker around 22-23 that isn't that big yet (or maybe even doesn't have a very high ceiling), but that could offer us something different. He'll grow and mature here and we'll be more versatile. Either way, just get someone.

We don't need to have a problem with letting Lukaku go - it's not a problem per say in my book - but we can make it a problem if we're only left with those other two replacements for Costa.

A+post. Top notch.

[zolayes 14,489]

ChelsTransferGossip ‏@ChelsTransfer 8m

Chelsea are playing hardball with Everton for Romelu Lukaku by placing a £30 million price tag on the striker (Telegraph) #CFC #EFC

ChelsTransferGossip ‏@ChelsTransfer 4m

Lukaku wants to return to Everton, where he spent last season on loan, but Chelsea want £30 million (Telegraph) #CFC #EFC

ChelsTransferGossip ‏@ChelsTransfer 5m

Everton are hoping to sign Lukaku on a permanent deal and are putting together a £23m plus bonuses to try to land him (Telegraph) #CFC #EFC

only deal is £35 for double .. Lukaku and TORRES

[Reddish-Blue 2,355]

I have a few things to say about this whole ordeal, some of which I've already said, some of which I haven't.

1) Lukaku ran away from competition last year. End of it. Yes, there was WC, but if his main goal was to displace Benteke he left because he wasn't sure he could displace Torres, Ba and Eto'o? Displacing Benteke was much harder than displacing at least two of those three. Benteke is no wonder (imo still better than Lukaku though) but he certainly is better than Torres and Ba comparatively, meaning that playing for Belgium and Villa he's better than Torres and Ba playing for Chelsea.

2) He thinks of himself more than he actually is. He wants things handled to him in a silver plate because he thinks he's earned them by scoring double figures in mid-table teams. Ba also did the same and look how different things worked for him at Chelsea. Also, Lukaku seemingly played bad for a streak at Everton last season because he was overplayed in his great start of season. So he wants to play week in and out, but when he does he shows he doesn't have stamina to keep it up - or at least that's what many Everton fans said about his acute level drop after very good first months. Not that worthy the investment and effort if you ask me. A player that is burned out after three months is something I won't miss dearly.

3) Sturridge and Lukaku are and have always been worlds apart. We made a mistake with Sturridge because of Torres mainly. If Lukaku leaves and reaches Daniel's numbers elsewhere I'll still support letting him go while I don't support letting Daniel go. It's not only about the goals, it's also about the attitude. It's a combination of both. Lukaku's attitude about a few things couldn't be worse (speaking to the media, thinking of himself better than he is, wanting things given to him without fighting for them, running away from competition). It's a whole bad package. How many goals does he have to offer to make up for all those headaches he gives from time to time - quite often btw? Mourinho talked about dressing room disruption with Shaw's wages. Which is true (although let's not fool ourselves, he's also trying to disrupt their dressing room), but the principle is the same with Lukaku's entitled attitude. Costa - who scored frigging 34 goals - came here and when asked about his position in the team with the journo assuming he's a starting XI he immediately corrected him in that assumption and said if he wants to start matches he'll have to fight with Torres and prove his worth. Don't you think other players could be annoyed by Lukaku's approached that he's done everything to prove he should start for us, while many of them - striker position or not - had to work their arses off with us to be in our first team? I'm not saying it would happen, but it's also a possibility.

4) He isn't that good anyway or that suitable for us. He could be very good one day - but I don't see a high ceiling for him tbh - but even if he excels in what he's already good today I don't think he has the qualities that actually be a top player in a club like Chelsea. It's Ba all over again. When you're in a mid-table team, other teams approach you differently than when you're in a top club, favorite to win every competition and match they enter. Defenses, midfielders play differently against Everton compared to what they do against Chelsea and Lukaku's good qualities (he has them, I'm not denying that) are much more suitable for playing in a team like Everton than at Chelsea. Teams play extra-defensively against us all the time. With his first touch, difficulty to hold the ball and general lack of technique it's much harder for him to score in those situations than against teams playing Everton equally or without an extra defensive effort. He'll receive balls in the run, he'll receive balls in the box or around it with less players around him. He'll flourish in those situations. As it stands today and seeing how he progressed in three seasons - despite the early age - I don't think he has what it takes to make it big here. He could and certainly would outscore Eto'o last season (nine goals), but all this headache for a player that could score, I don't know, 12 goals? That's what I expect from Oscar or Schurrle this year... They should score at least 12 goals if they're in form. For a striker is still not much. It's just we've been so bad in that department lately that suddenly a guy with 16 goals in the league is a wonder here.

5) Finally if he indeed leaves is because of at least one of those two things (could also be a combination of both) A- he wanted and Mourinho thought that it wasn't a great loss. B- Mourinho doesn't rate him (or think he's worth keeping given the bad package I've mentioned above he definitely comes with) whether that's technically or only about his attitude. In either case I guess I'll trust Mourinho's assessment, first because I happen to think the same whether A or B happens, second, Mourinho knows much better than I do (which doesn't mean he doesn't make mistakes).

Letting Lukaku go itself isn't a problem, staying with only Torres and Droga is. One injury and we're left with a strike force as bad (if not worse) than last year's - and we don't know if Costa is prone to them or not, a player could start being prone to them like Aguero was last season and some occasions before - at any point of his career.Maybe he can't prevent Lukaku from leaving or even think he's worth the effort, but then Mourinho MUST bring another striker. I'd say someone young, inexpensive, that could learn from DD and offer us around the same goals output that Lukaku could or even a bit less. I've been saying for a while now we could use a technical striker - we don't have any in the team - because Lukaku's style is similar to Costa - except the latter is right now much better than the former. If Costa struggle against a certain kind of situation, we still have a problem because the likely of it being the same situation Lukaku struggles is huge. Neither can save us if our midfield is having an uninspired day (at least we'll have DD now for air threat in set-pieces, which is always a way to try to overcome lack of creativity). Get a talented, technical young striker around 22-23 that isn't that big yet (or maybe even doesn't have a very high ceiling), but that could offer us something different. He'll grow and mature here and we'll be more versatile. Either way, just get someone.

We don't need to have a problem with letting Lukaku go - it's not a problem per say in my book - but we can make it a problem if we're only left with those other two replacements for Costa.

Totally agree with your post.

If we can find a 22-24 year old talented striker with a different skill-set to Costa and Drogba, I wouldn't mind cashing in on Lukaku (25 million or no deal).

[The Skipper 20,593]

I have a few things to say about this whole ordeal

[LukakutoStamford 779]

I have a few things to say about this whole ordeal, some of which I've already said, some of which I haven't.

1) Lukaku ran away from competition last year. End of it. Yes, there was WC, but if his main goal was to displace Benteke he left because he wasn't sure he could displace Torres, Ba and Eto'o? Displacing Benteke was much harder than displacing at least two of those three. Benteke is no wonder (imo still better than Lukaku though) but he certainly is better than Torres and Ba comparatively, meaning that playing for Belgium and Villa he's better than Torres and Ba playing for Chelsea.

2) He thinks of himself more than he actually is. He wants things handled to him in a silver plate because he thinks he's earned them by scoring double figures in mid-table teams. Ba also did the same and look how different things worked for him at Chelsea. Also, Lukaku seemingly played bad for a streak at Everton last season because he was overplayed in his great start of season. So he wants to play week in and out, but when he does he shows he doesn't have stamina to keep it up - or at least that's what many Everton fans said about his acute level drop after very good first months. Not that worthy the investment and effort if you ask me. A player that is burned out after three months is something I won't miss dearly.

3) Sturridge and Lukaku are and have always been worlds apart. We made a mistake with Sturridge because of Torres mainly. If Lukaku leaves and reaches Daniel's numbers elsewhere I'll still support letting him go while I don't support letting Daniel go. It's not only about the goals, it's also about the attitude. It's a combination of both. Lukaku's attitude about a few things couldn't be worse (speaking to the media, thinking of himself better than he is, wanting things given to him without fighting for them, running away from competition). It's a whole bad package. How many goals does he have to offer to make up for all those headaches he gives from time to time - quite often btw? Mourinho talked about dressing room disruption with Shaw's wages. Which is true (although let's not fool ourselves, he's also trying to disrupt their dressing room), but the principle is the same with Lukaku's entitled attitude. Costa - who scored frigging 34 goals - came here and when asked about his position in the team with the journo assuming he's a starting XI he immediately corrected him in that assumption and said if he wants to start matches he'll have to fight with Torres and prove his worth. Don't you think other players could be annoyed by Lukaku's approached that he's done everything to prove he should start for us, while many of them - striker position or not - had to work their arses off with us to be in our first team? I'm not saying it would happen, but it's also a possibility.

4) He isn't that good anyway or that suitable for us. He could be very good one day - but I don't see a high ceiling for him tbh - but even if he excels in what he's already good today I don't think he has the qualities that actually be a top player in a club like Chelsea. It's Ba all over again. When you're in a mid-table team, other teams approach you differently than when you're in a top club, favorite to win every competition and match they enter. Defenses, midfielders play differently against Everton compared to what they do against Chelsea and Lukaku's good qualities (he has them, I'm not denying that) are much more suitable for playing in a team like Everton than at Chelsea. Teams play extra-defensively against us all the time. With his first touch, difficulty to hold the ball and general lack of technique it's much harder for him to score in those situations than against teams playing Everton equally or without an extra defensive effort. He'll receive balls in the run, he'll receive balls in the box or around it with less players around him. He'll flourish in those situations. As it stands today and seeing how he progressed in three seasons - despite the early age - I don't think he has what it takes to make it big here. He could and certainly would outscore Eto'o last season (nine goals), but all this headache for a player that could score, I don't know, 12 goals? That's what I expect from Oscar or Schurrle this year... They should score at least 12 goals if they're in form. For a striker is still not much. It's just we've been so bad in that department lately that suddenly a guy with 16 goals in the league is a wonder here.

5) Finally if he indeed leaves is because of at least one of those two things (could also be a combination of both) A- he wanted and Mourinho thought that it wasn't a great loss. B- Mourinho doesn't rate him (or think he's worth keeping given the bad package I've mentioned above he definitely comes with) whether that's technically or only about his attitude. In either case I guess I'll trust Mourinho's assessment, first because I happen to think the same whether A or B happens, second, Mourinho knows much better than I do (which doesn't mean he doesn't make mistakes).

Letting Lukaku go itself isn't a problem, staying with only Torres and Droga is. One injury and we're left with a strike force as bad (if not worse) than last year's - and we don't know if Costa is prone to them or not, a player could start being prone to them like Aguero was last season and some occasions before - at any point of his career.Maybe he can't prevent Lukaku from leaving or even think he's worth the effort, but then Mourinho MUST bring another striker. I'd say someone young, inexpensive, that could learn from DD and offer us around the same goals output that Lukaku could or even a bit less. I've been saying for a while now we could use a technical striker - we don't have any in the team - because Lukaku's style is similar to Costa - except the latter is right now much better than the former. If Costa struggle against a certain kind of situation, we still have a problem because the likely of it being the same situation Lukaku struggles is huge. Neither can save us if our midfield is having an uninspired day (at least we'll have DD now for air threat in set-pieces, which is always a way to try to overcome lack of creativity). Get a talented, technical young striker around 22-23 that isn't that big yet (or maybe even doesn't have a very high ceiling), but that could offer us something different. He'll grow and mature here and we'll be more versatile. Either way, just get someone.

We don't need to have a problem with letting Lukaku go - it's not a problem per say in my book - but we can make it a problem if we're only left with those other two replacements for Costa.

1) I think this is a bit silly really. He was 20 he needed to be loaned to get play time so he could improve. There's no real point to playing him 10-15 minutes a game with an occasional start. As for Benteke you're dramatically underselling him. He wins nearly 8 aerial duels a game and is one of the better target men in Europe. I've always lobbied for him to come here because he can play with Hazard and his ability to flick on his top notch. I like him better than Costa. He had a poor year, but I expect him to bounce back.

2) I think he just wants to play and not see a sport start here and there and sub for 10 minutes a game. He's still only 21 so he needs to play. Sitting on the bench doesn't help him any and it really doesn't serve Chelsea well either. If he were to sub for 30 minutes a game and get more than a start every 5-7 games then perhaps that's enough. Stamina is a weakness and it's something he has to improve.

3) I'm not a huge Sturridge guy myself but yes he's shown he's clearly better than Lukaku.

4) I can agree he's not a fit for how Jose wants to use him and he's not a great target man and he struggles is certain aspects of the game; however, he's got the goal scorer's instinct and he's a devastating closing option against tired defenses. I agree that's it difficult to see him turn into a world class Striker because of his deficiencies.

5) I don't have a problem with Mourinho selling him, but I do take issue if the resulting striker core is Costa, Drogba, Torres. That's an unacceptable strike force and makes Chelsea reliant on Costa's health. Drogba is 36 has malaria so I rather doubt he's going to be able to give the full 90 needed. Torres has been an abomination against top teams. Mourinho has to acknowledge that had he had a decent/good strike force last year Chelsea would have won the title. Failing to address the issue this year would be a slap in the face.

I agree with you here. If Lukaku goes then a striker with experience in either La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, PL, or La Ligue 1 needs to come in ... Perhaps steal Jay Rodiguez from the Saints seeing as they are liquidating their assets for a sale of the club. Perhaps Bony, or Klass-Jan Huntelaar

[The Chels 2,502]

Why would we want him to only go to an english team if the switch was permanent ? That doesn't really make a lot of sense.

If we were to put any limitations on a permanent move wouldn't it make more sense to do the opposite ? Have him join a foreign team rather then an english one ?

Sky Sports attribute this idea to Lukaku's "Italian agent" who is apparently Mino Raiola. I don't think he is actually Romelu's agent though:

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

I don't care anymore if Lukaku leaves. But if he is leaving then we must buy a good second choice striker. Drogba and Torres cannot be considered good enough backups. Should have bought Mandzukic. Who else is possible?

[The Chels 2,502]

Letting Lukaku go isn't a problem in itself, staying with only Torres and Droga is. One injury and we're left with a strike force as bad (if not worse) than last year's - and we don't know if Costa is prone to them or not, a player could start being prone to them like Aguero was last season and some occasions before - at any point of his career.Maybe he can't prevent Lukaku from leaving or even think he's worth the effort, but then Mourinho MUST bring another striker, especially because he spent the whole of last season complaining he didn't have strikers.

Absolutely but with Costa there isn't only the risk of injuries but also of not adapting quickly enough (less likely) and suspensions (very likely). I think Mourinho might gamble on the combination of Costa, Torres and Drogba until January at least, and this could well be his downfall.

[Barbara 15,149]

1) I think this is a bit silly really. He was 20 he needed to be loaned to get play time so he could improve. There's no real point to playing him 10-15 minutes a game with an occasional start. As for Benteke you're dramatically underselling him. He wins nearly 8 aerial duels a game and is one of the better target men in Europe. I've always lobbied for him to come here because he can play with Hazard and his ability to flick on his top notch. I like him better than Costa. He had a poor year, but I expect him to bounce back.

2) I think he just wants to play and not see a sport start here and there and sub for 10 minutes a game. He's still only 21 so he needs to play. Sitting on the bench doesn't help him any and it really doesn't serve Chelsea well either. If he were to sub for 30 minutes a game and get more than a start every 5-7 games then perhaps that's enough. Stamina is a weakness and it's something he has to improve.

3) I'm not a huge Sturridge guy myself but yes he's shown he's clearly better than Lukaku.

4) I can agree he's not a fit for how Jose wants to use him and he's not a great target man and he struggles is certain aspects of the game; however, he's got the goal scorer's instinct and he's a devastating closing option against tired defenses. I agree that's it difficult to see him turn into a world class Striker because of his deficiencies.

5) I don't have a problem with Mourinho selling him, but I do take issue if the resulting striker core is Costa, Drogba, Torres. That's an unacceptable strike force and makes Chelsea reliant on Costa's health. Drogba is 36 has malaria so I rather doubt he's going to be able to give the full 90 needed. Torres has been an abomination against top teams. Mourinho has to acknowledge that had he had a decent/good strike force last year Chelsea would have won the title. Failing to address the issue this year would be a slap in the face.

I agree with you here. If Lukaku goes then a striker with experience in either La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, PL, or La Ligue 1 needs to come in ... Perhaps steal Jay Rodiguez from the Saints seeing as they are liquidating their assets for a sale of the club. Perhaps Bony, or Klass-Jan Huntelaar

1) You're undermining the role he could have here. Torres and Ba started matches... Torres too many. If Lukaku proved he was a best scorer than they - which isn't that hard he could have started many matches. Who said he was destined to play 10-15 minutes for a whole season? I've never expected him to be a super sub throughout the whole season and that the fear that made him move. For someone that believes he's so great he doesn't have proportional confidence in his game. It's almost like he has to convince us with his words because in the pitch he's not sure he will. You misunderstood my point about Benteke, what I meant is that he's much better than all the three mentioned (Lukaku, Torres and Ba) although he isn't an Aguero, let's say. I may even like him better than Costa as I'm not that much of a Costa fan...

2) Again with the assumption he wouldn't play. Last season he would have played a lot of minutes. This year with Costa it's more difficult, that's why last year was his chance and HE wasted it. And yes, he's 21. Why should he have more than a few minutes until he gives José a problem about who should start. You talk of him being 21 as if he was 25. A 25yo has to start every match because he's at his peak, a 21 has to grab every chance thrown his way. Sorry if this offends you, but you seem to think a lot like he does, and that's my problem with him. You earn things, you aren't handled them. A 21 has to prove his value and fight, that's how at age 24/25 you have a guaranteed place, because you fought for it, you worked for it. Lukaku hasn't done that in a top team yet and he will have to do it somewhere if he wants to reach the top.

3) It's not even about being better (although he is better, but he's also older). He was sacrificed for Torres. That was our main mistake. He's scored goals while being here while being second to Didier and Torres (sometimes he was third actually). We made a mistake, we had a gem but we sacrificed him for some blondie. You can never predict precisely a player's future. I didn't expect him to become so good so fast after he left us, but we treated him really badly imo, something we haven't done with Lukaku yet.

4) He does have his qualities, I said as much, but the last one you mentioned is that kind that he isn't willing to offer because to play against tired defenses he has to be in the bench and he (and you seemingly) thinks what he needs now is to start matches. What he needs and what he deserves can be completely different things.

5) Nothing to say about it. we definitely agree on that.

I like Rodriguez he would be perfect. We already have 20 non-HG players for 17 spots, if we let go of a HG player we need to replace him with another one. I'd say bring Jay. It doesn't matter much of who (as it can hardly get worse than Torres), but the profile. A younger player tutored by DD and even Costa, willing to fight his space in the team with some quality will already help us immensely. Of course it can't be a guy that doesn't seem to be promising, but I mean we don't need another WC striker.

[The Chels 2,502]

Drogba is 36 has malaria

That was ages ago

[Manuf 1,448]

If Costa is injured, I'd rather see Andre lead the line. Hard-working, humble, not complaining. I loved Lukaku at the beginning just like any other fan, his video of dreaming to play on Stamford was amazing, but in all matches he played for Chelsea (I know there were not that many of them) I haven't seen him deserving to start another game after the one he's played.

[Barbara 15,149]

ok, it wasn't just a few. I mean it was a few, I only had 6 points to make (for a girl like me six is such a small number) but developing them wasn't as objective as it could. It never is, but I'll try for the sake of it.

1) Lukaku left afraid of not displacing Etoo, Torres and Ba in hopes of with more playing time he'd displace Benteke who's better than all those guys, Lukaku included.

2) He has attitude problems such as thinking of himself more than he should, wanting things given to him without him earning them when all he did was score double figures in mid-tables team. So did Ba. Also he was burned out after only three months of playing week in and out. So he wants what his body doesn't seem able to deliver

3) The comparison with Sturridge isn't a good one. We messed up with Daniel sacrificing him to keep an useless Torres. He proved here he could score and he's way better than Lukaku is (or could even be). We didn't treat Lukaku bad and letting him go isn't a mistake even if he scores as many goes as Daniel because he's a package that comes with bad attitude. Also a guy like him that thinks he's earned his spot when he barely featured for us and never played in a top team could disrupt a dressing room the same way paying a fortune to a 19yo FB can. It's a risk

4) He isn't either good or suitable for us anyway. He's suited for what mid-tables teams face defensively and he could struggle even harder against extra-defensive teams than Costa would do if our AMs have problems creating them clear cut chances. Neither of them is technical, except Costa is already much better. Offering 15 goals a season may not be worthy all the headache he brings because players such Oscar and Schurrle should be bringing each almost as much if in form. We've been surrounded of so many bad strikers that 15 seems nice when it isn't enough for a striker

5) If he leaves it'll either his decision or the club's - if not a combination of both. In either case I trust Mourinho's assessment of allowing (or wanting) it to happen. I even agree and I'm not a world class manager...

6) The problem isn't letting him go. The problem is staying with only Torres and DD as backups to Costa - who could become injury prone, we don't know. And as we're at it, let's try to get a young prospect, with a different set of skills, more technical, that could not only offer around the same amount of goals as Lukaku, but also offer different tactical options.

There, I've done it. It may have been succinct and even had the same effect. But I don't feel accomplished. Actually I feel like my tits are shrinking and in the place of my lady parties a dick is growing. A girl needs her words!!! objectiveness isn't part of our world. But at least I guess I could do it if I tried

It was fun doing that. Should I keep the style? I'll make sure to do other things live to remind me I'm a girl and not a boy